Book Bindings
by MelasVera
Summary: You were pretty sure you were in hell, surrounded by books but unable to buy a single one. Oh, but would you look at that? A skeleton has come to your rescue. WARNING: READER-INSERT, READERxSANS, BOOKS
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Undertale or the characters, I do own, I suppose, the OC's.

 **WARNINGS:** This chapter includes a little bit of fluff, declarations of love, books, and blushing skeleton.

 **NOTE:** Should I be writing another fic while I haven't comleted my first one. No. This idea came about when I saw that one Tumblr post from here: engineering- laughter. tumblr image/ 61317514787

You know, the one where someone would prefer someone hitting on her at a bookstore and buying her a book instead of at a bar and buying her drinks.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Book Bindings**

 **Chapter 1**

You were in heaven, surround by aisles and aisles of books.

Pages filled with words carefully crafted by their authors to paint a marvelous picture inside the reader's head.

And yet you couldn't buy a single one.

So, really, you were in your own personal hell. To have all these books within your reach but not be able to take home a single one hurt you.

It hurt you real deep.

Why were you in a bookstore when you couldn't afford what they had to offer? It was better then going clothes shopping with your friend. You hated the way your friend shopped. They could take hours trying on clothes before they ever decided on what they wanted to buy. It was nothing more then a massive headache, and it was only made worse due to the fact that you were in a mall, and broke, so you opted to browse the local bookstore as you waited.

Why did you agree to do this again?

You sighed heavily and replaced the book you had in your grasp, regretfully. It seemed like such a fascinating read too, seeing as it was written by a Monster and you didn't have any of those at home.

Monsters had been on the surface for nearly six years, and through a lot of pain, sweat, and tears they were finally fully accepted as citizens about two years ago. You found them a lot more fascinating and easier to be around then most humans, so you were overjoyed that they were accepted instead of the war that many expected to breakout.

You walked away from the book you replaced.

You only made it about five paces before you broke and turned on your heel. You walked back and plucked it off the shelf to continue reading.

It was _such_ a good read!

It was written by the Monster Queen, and it was about her reaccounting the war that forced their entire race into Mt. Ebott and everything after. It was pretty much an autobiography be read like a history text.

She wrote about her life before the war, as you read it was as if you could feel what she felt.

You could feel her childish joy as she grew up, her resigned irritation at her betrothal to the then Prince Asgore.

The apprehension and tension was almost physical when she spoke about what she believed lead up to the start of the war, her fear during the war gripped you heart as it did hers.

The misery of the first years of life behind the barrier brought tears to your eyes, the shock at the fall first human child made you grip the book with widened eyes.

The love she felt for the child and her own son made you feel as if you they were your own.

The overwhelming grief she had at the death of both of her children in one day made you sob with her.

You felt her pain as she separated from her husband and locked herself away in the ruins.

The book was intense!

You loved it!

And from what you could tell it was all true! Depressingly so.

Perhaps she used some kind of magic to evoke such strong feeling from the reader, and she very well could have and you'd never know because you knew jack about magic, or she was just that good of a writer.

Speaking of magic you should look for books on that, not just the wiccan books (you had a bunch of those) but books written by monsters.

Well…..now that you think about it you couldn't think of a reason that a monster would want to write a book about magic for humans, seeing as that would put them at risk of being put behind another barrier.

Yes. Best to keep magic away from mankind, the weapons already in reach were destructive enough. The world didn't need the humans to have anymore.

Your phone vibrated, making you jump and toss the book lightly into the air. Frantically you juggled the book, trying to prevent it from falling to the floor you were don't remember sitting cross legged on. A few seconds of looking like an idiot you caught the text and sighed in relief when you didn't find a single bent page. You closed it and set it on your lap as you took out your phone.

You blinked in surprise when the time caught your eye. You had spent nearly two hours in the bookstore reading as you waited on your friend.

She had spent over two hours shopping for clothes.

That…... was actually pretty good for her, she did say she was trying to cut down on how long she spent shopping.

You groaned when you realized that you had to truly put the book all the times for her to be true to her word! And you were so close to being done with it!

Okay.

That was a lie.

You weren't even halfway done with it.

It was a huge, very informative book. History textbook writers should take notes on how to make history interesting. Then again it might help out, a lot, that the Queen actually _lived_ through what she wrote about.

So maybe this could be considered more of an autobiography instead of a straight up history book….

Eh. Semantics.

You stood up on shaky, numb, legs and gave a full bodied stretch, throwing your arms above your head, one hand holding the book, and letting go of a light moan. You pulled down the shirt that had slightly ridden up and put the book back in it's spot, again, with a heavy heart.

Oh why, oh why did your wallet have to be so empty?

You stared at the book for a moment, bemoaning your fate, before you shook your head violently, clapped your hands in front of you, nodded sharply, and resolutely walked out of the store.

And with each step you swore that your heart was breaking as you left such a literary masterpiece behind.

And you would swear until your dying days that there were not tears pulling in your eyes. It was just a hair that made it's way past your eyelashes.

You made your way to meet your friend by the food court on the other end of the mall. What would normally be a ten minute walk on a weekday became a fifteen, nearly, twenty minute slow trek due to the weekend traffic that malls tend to have. When you reach the food court you had to snicker when you spotted your friend.

She had roughly six giant bags from three different stores strung on her arms, and she wasn't even breaking a sweat. Her eyes were frantically roving over the crowd looking for you while she standed on her tiptoes. She smiled and attempted to wave at you when she found her. You gave a tiny wave back and were about to cover the remain fifteen odd feet separating when a voice caught your attention.

"hey! hey lady! you forgot this!"

You turned your head, interested in how close the voice was, and saw a skeleton monster carefully avoiding the crowd as they rushed in your direction.

And it seemed they were looking at you.

Bewildered you stopped, looked around then pointed to yourself while mouthing, 'Me?'

"yeah, yeah you!"

The skeleton was now a couple feet in front of you, a dimpled smile sitting on their face.

How did a skeleton have dimples?

You blushed faintly.

And why did it make him look so attractive!?

You were just going to chalk it up to magic and be done with it.

Suddenly, he held out a bag from the bookstore you just left, breaking you away from your thoughts.

You gave the bag a puzzled look.

"you left this behind."

"Huh?" Wow. Intelligent much?

And somehow that smile that did not move when he spoke grew wider without looking creepy.

Ju-just _how_?

"you left this back at the bookstore, took me forever to catch up to you."

"B-but I-I di-didn't, I'm sor-sorry, you must h-have gotten the wrong person?" You stuttered, totally lost and feeling slightly at fault for indirectly wasting this kind man's (kind monster's?) time.

"nope. don't think so." And he shoved the bag into your hands. "wouldn't want to lose something like that, now would ya?" Then he winked.

That should not of been as sexy as it was, _oh my_ _ **God**_!

You could feel your blush darkening as you dumbly nodded.

His smile soften, your heart melted, and he patted the hands that now held the bag he gave you. "happy readin, kid."

He turned and walked away from your still blushing form and waved you off when you called after him, "I-I'm not a kid."

"Hey, _, you okay? What did he give you? Was he bothering you? Why are you blushing."

You looked over at your worried friend, who must have made their way to you after seeing you take so long.

"I-I'm fine, kinda confused. He said that I left this behind, but I didn't buy anything at all." You decided to ignore the blushing question. Because TMI.

You looked down at the bag in your hands and peaked inside, a strange feeling gripped your heart at the sight. You looked up quickly to try to spot the skeleton, only to not see him anywhere. Wide-eyed you looked back inside the back before you turned to your worried friend with a radiant smile, your eyes shining with unshed tears of overwhelming joy.

"I'm going to marry him." You whispered.

Your friend choked on a cough, taken aback, "Whoa, wait, what?"

You nodded decisively, hands clenching the bag's handless and bring it to your chest, "I'm going to marry him!"

Your friend sputtered, "B-but you don't even know him!"

"I know that he pays attention to what I like, that he's considerate, and caring, and exactly what I want in man!"

"What did he give you, the crown jewels?"

"No! Even better!" You pulled out the book and showed it to her proudly. "He bought me the book I've been reading for the past two hours!" You squealed in delight and hugged it to your chest.

"O-oh my God, _," Your friend laughed good naturedly and shook their head, "you are such a nerd. That sounds stalkerish to me."

You blew a short rasberry then smiled down at your new book with glee. You opened up the front cover of the book and almost dropped it again.

You stared, bug-eyed, at the top left corner of the inside cover.

There, in gorgeous, elegant cursive, was a signature and a short message in the same handwriting.

Your knees gave out on you, your friend exclaiming in shock as they unsuccessfully tried to keep you from hitting the ground. People looked at you oddly as they walked around you. But you couldn't care less as you read the short message.

' _It always brings warmth to my SOUL to hear someone as young as you enjoying the tales of my people. Thank you for taking the time to open up this book. Queen Toriel.'_

Underneath the message was slightly sloppier handwriting with a phone number,

' _enjoy, kid. sans xxx-xxx-xxxx'_

….

A queen signed your book.

….

The Queen of Monsters signed your book.

….

A brilliant author signed the brilliant book they wrote.

…..

A random guy gave you a signed book for free.

….

You could scream you were so happy.

Instead you would deal with smiling dreamily at the two messages and ignore your now annoyed friend who was lightly hitting you with one of their shopping bags.

You looked up at her frowning face, a dopey look on your own. She raised a single eyebrow, "You going to get up off the floor or….?"

"I think I'm in love, Karren."

Somehow the eyebrow raised higher, "Really now? Because some guy gave you a book."

You shook your head in the negative, smile refusing to leave, "Not just that, look! Look!" You turned the book around and raised it up so she could read it.

Karren rolled her eyes and looked heavenwards before she bent slightly to read. You hummed merrily as you waited, which you didn't have to do for long, because you quickly heard Karren's inhale of disbelief.

"D-do you really think that this is the Queen's signature."

"Yup!" You popped the 'p' and turned the book back down towards you so you could reread the messages.

"He could of forged it, you'd think the press would be here hounding the Queen if she was here."

"Maybe he can teleport! And he teleported off to ask for the signature."

"Right, teleportation."

"Magic, Karren! _Magic_!"

"Or maybe he forged it, and what are the odds that this random guy knows the Queen? This just screams stalker to me."

"I'm pretty sure when I was skimming that I saw the name Sans somewhere, plus the Underground was small."

"Yeah, yeah, keep dreaming. Still think you have a stalker though."

"I shall and don't care!"

"You're weird." Karren chuckled and shook her head, "Come on, let's go, you can read the book in the car." You listened and got up off the floor, eyes not leaving your new gem.

Karren rolled her eyes again and clumsily grabbed your elbow so you would follow her.

You didn't know that you entire conversation was overheard by a constantly grinning skeleton who was standing on the other side of the directory you were standing by. His face aglow with a blue blush that he tried to hide in the hoodie he pulled over his face.

"hee, you sure are a strange one, kid."

* * *

So, what do you think? Continue or nah?

If you see a mistake please tell me. I already caught a mistake before posting. I used the wrong "aisle," about had you surround by islands filled with books and not shelves.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Undertale, nor the characters, I just...play with them...

 **WARNING:** Chapter contains fluff, declarations of love, and blushing skeletons.

 **NOTE:** Thanks to everyone who has favourited, followed, and commented so far! And I meant to update this sooner but... **_l i f e._**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

When he saw you in the book store skimming through the pages of Toriel's book he expected to see the common looks of derision and disdain he so often saw. Instead he saw a look of pure longing and awe that made him stop in his tracks.

He tried not to watch as you flipped to the beginning of the book and began earnestly reading. The way your eyes light up as you read his friend's book made his SOUL flutter and he flushed.

Hastily, Sans looked away from you and scratched at his light blue cheek.

Why was he attracted to someone who was just reading a book?

Okay, sure you were cute, for a human, but really? This instant attraction he felt towards you was kinda ridiculous. And you weren't even doing anything provocative, someone just reading should not be so attractive!

To not look too weird and out of place he picked up a random book from the aisle the both of you were in and acted like he was reading it, flipping the pages every-now-and-then. In reality he was sneaking glances at your expressive face. He frowned as much as he could when you sighed sadly and seemed to struggle with yourself as you put the book back on the shelf and walked away.

Sans chuckled in amusement when you didn't make it very far before you turned right around, picked up the book, and happily picked up where you left off.

Sans found himself entranced by your reactions to what you read. At some point in time you sat on the floor and he followed, the book he wasn't reading still in hand. Truthfully, he was reading you, and trying to not look to creepy and obvious as he did it.

Stars, what was wrong with him?

Sans was pretty sure he could tell what part you were at by your expressions.

He could read your joy and irritation. You must be at the part where Toriel's parents told her she was engaged to, the then, Prince Asgore.

The apprehension and tension was easily seen in your shoulders and brows. Fear was shining in your eyes and seen in your slightly rapid breathing as you bent over the book. War must of started.

Misery engulfed your form, the years after the barrier was formed.

The gasp of shock could of been evoked by the first fallen human.

The love in your eyes reflected the love Toriel still held for her first children.

Your silent sobbing at the Tori's written grief almost made Sans get up and awkwardly comfort you.

The pain that was visible in your eyes made his SOUL vibrate in agitation.

Stars, you were intense!

And you were only _reading_.

Sans found himself wondering if you were that expressive, that intense, in person.

He flushed again at the thought.

He flipped a page of the book he wasn't reading and continued to watch you from the corner of his eye. You seemed to be lost in thought, your expression switching from a pondering look, frowning, realization, and then decisiveness. Sans wondered what you were thinking about to cause such an array of emotions so quickly.

Suddenly you jumped, and it was difficult not to laugh and draw attention to himself as you juggled to book in the air.

That was hilarious.

After catching the book you took out your phone, which must have been what startled you. Sans watched absolutely mesmerized by the look of utter surprise that filtered across your face.

He nervously had to divert his eyes back to the book he wasn't reading as you stood up and stretched in such a way that it caused your shirt to ride up. The moan you released as you stretched didn't help with the fluttering of his SOUL and the blush on his face at all either.

Stars, was this creepy? Was he being creepy?

He could feel his sins crawling on his back.

Tentatively, with a few droplets of sweat rolling down his skull, Sans looked on as you just stared at the book you reshelved. After a second you smiled and shook your head rather violently, hair flying all over the place, clapped your hands once, nodded, then walked out of the store.

Without truly think Sans quickly replace his book, picked up the exact book you put down and went over to check out, keeping an eye out for the direction you went through the glass wall. Luckily a cashier was free so there was no long wait. After he paid Sans rushed out of the store and moved to follow you. Only a few minutes of walking passed by when an idea struck him and he ducked into the closest family bathroom, locking it behind him.

A soon as the lock slide in place he opened up a shortcut through the void into Toriel's living room, hoping she was home. Maybe he should've phoned her to see if she was. The moment he stepped into the living room he knew by the smell of fresh pie that his friend was home.

"toriel!"

"Sans? What are you doing here, is something wrong?"

"no, no, i have a favor to ask you."

"What do you need, Sans?"

"i-i need you to sign this book real quick, for…. _forahuman_."

"You want me to sign this book…..for a human?"

A nod.

"Okay Sans," Toriel grabbed a pen with a chuckled and reached for the book, "who should I make it out too?"

Damn.

"uhhhhhh…"

The (ex)Queen looked up in fond exasperation, "Do you even know their name?"

His silence was more then enough of an answer.

"Sans-"

"hurry toriel! they might leave soon!"

The ex-queen couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her at her friend's out of character behavior. It was rare to see Sans so flustered, especially over a human. So without a word, and a smile on her face, she signed the book she wrote and watched as Sans quickly scribbled something before he left through one of his short cuts.

Another fond shake of her head and Toriel went back to what she was doing, silently cheering on Sans in his endeavors.

The other end of the of the portal was barely opened up enough for the skeleton to slip through when he all but teleported out and unlocked the door to make hopefully find that human. Deftly avoiding the bodies in his way Sans made his way in the direction you were last heading.

After a while Sans felt an inkling of fear and disappointment when he didn't immediately spot you. Just as he was about to give up, a hand laden with bags attempting to wave caught his attention. Then his eyes found you, and he hollered.

"hey! hey lady! you forgot this!"

You turned your head back then stopped when you saw him heading towards you. His smile widened when he saw you look around then point to yourself in confusion.

"yeah, yeah you!"

He was now a couple feet in front of you, and you….you couldn't of been more beautiful. Especially when you blushed when you noticed him. Good. No fear or disgust. That was a good sign, right?

Sans desperately fought with a blush of his own as he held the bag out to you, causing an adorable little frown to grace you face.

His SOUL gave another flutter at that, but he ignored it, "you left this behind."

"Huh?"

Oh Stars, he had it _bad_ if he thought that was cute.

"you left this back at the bookstore, took me forever to catch up to you." Because that did not sound like something a creep would do. Totally.

You blinked and tripped over your words in your confusion, looking even cuter in Sans eyes, "B-but I-I di-didn't, you must h-have gotten the wrong person"

His grin grew wider at that, "nope. don't think so." And he shoved the bag into your hands. "wouldn't want to lose something like that, now would ya?" Then he winked.

And your blush flared even brighter.

Oh _Stars_.

Sans couldn't help it when his smile softened at your completely lost look, and he patted the hands that now held the bag he gave you. "happy readin, kid."

And before he could do something really stupid he turned and walked off, only waving you off when you hollered after him about not being a kid. Once he was sure he was far enough away from both humans and cameras he quickly disappeared down one of his shortcuts and reappeared behind the directory you were next too. He made it just in time to hear your whispered declaration.

"I'm going to marry him."

A rush of magic engulfed the skeletons face, his blushing form beginning to attract some odd looks. Looks he couldn't see because he immediately covered his head with his hood. His permanent grin grew wider at the conversation between who must of been your friend and yourself.

Your friend choked on a cough, taken aback, "Whoa, wait, what?"

"I'm going to marry him!"

He was okay with that. Would you be okay with now or later?

Your friend sputtered, "B-but you don't even know him!"

"I know that he pays attention to what I like, that he's considerate, and caring, and exactly what I want in man!" Stars, could he blush anymore? Could his smile get any wider? Man, he felt like giggling.

"What did he give you, the crown jewels?"

"No! Even better!" The sound of a plastic bag reached Sans over the sounds of the mall. "He bought me the book I've been reading for the past two hours!" Your squeal of delight made his SOUL feel joyful at that.

A human he didn't even catch the name of, let alone have a full blown conversation with, should not make him feel this way.

But you did, and Sans was surprisingly okay with that.

He must of been very lost in thought because he missed part of your conversation with your friend and only tuned back in when your friend exclaimed in shock. Quickly Sans took a peak around the directory to see your friend trying, and failing to keep you from falling to your knees. It took a lot of strength to not go immediately over to you to see if you were okay. It was only the fact that your friend didn't look to worried, only annoyed, and that you were obviously staring down at the, now open, book.

After a while of you just smiling at the book your friend began lightly hitting you with her bags. You didn't even react.

And boy, did Sans want to laugh at the two of you, but he'd take silently smiling like an idiot.

A few more seconds past before you looked up at your friend, who raised a single eyebrow, "You going to get up off the floor or….?"

"I think I'm in love, Karren."

And his blush was back. Quickly, Sans went back behind the directory and tried to pull his hood even further down his face.

"Really? Because some guy gave you a book."

"Not just that, look! Look!"

"D-do you really think that this is the Queen's signature?" Your friend's, Karren, voice held nothing but shocked disbelief.

"Yup!" The way you popped the 'p' was simply endearing to the blushing skeleton.

Karren continued to be cynical, "He could of forged it, you'd think the press would be here hounding the Queen if she was here."

Oh shit, he didn't think of that...

"Maybe he can teleport! And he teleported off to ask for the signature."

"Right, teleportation."

"Magic, Karren! _Magic_!"

Smart girl.

"Or maybe he forged it, and what are the odds that this random guy knows the Queen?"

"I'm pretty sure when I was skimming that I saw the name Sans somewhere, plus the Underground was small."

Toriel definitely wrote about him, but he didn't think you made it that far into the book.

"Yeah, yeah, keep dreaming."

"I shall!"

"Come on, let's go, you can read the book in the car."

Sans didn't need to look to know that the two of you were leaving, yet he still took a peek at your retreating backs. Karren, with her arms overloaded with bags, gently guided you towards the exit. Your eyes never leaving the book, and he could just imagine the smile on you face. Once he lost sight of you to the crowd the skeleton went back behind the directory and leaned his head back, face still alight with a blush and hoodie still trying to hide him.

"hee, you're a strange one, kid."

He spent a few more seconds just standing there when it hit him.

He didn't even get your name.

Sans sighed heavily to himself and began to walk away, hoping that you'd call his number he left behind. He didn't even get to walk ten steps before he felt his phone vibrate. His SOUL skipped a beat as he frantically pulled out the device.

His eternal grin grew wider while his SOUL sang as he looked at the screen to see a text.

From an _Unknown Number._

* * *

So, what do you think? Hate it, love it?

If you see a mistake please tell me, I'm not perfect.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Undertale, nor the characters, I just...play with them...

 **WARNING:** Chapter contains fluff, and OOC blushing skeletons.

 **NOTE:** Thanks to everyone who has favourited, followed, and commented so far! And I apologize if anyone got an email a day or so ago saying that this story was updated, I did upload the chapter but when I went to check on it it was all in code and I freaked and deleted it. The irrational side of me was all like, "Boi, ya pissed off Gaster." So then I went to bed...

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 _Unknown Number._

 _~That was the sweetest, kindest, thing anyone, a stranger no less, has ever done for me. Thank you so much, Sans! I wish I knew of a way to repay you, that book's not cheap._

Sans took enough time to leave the mall and find a humanless, cameraless, spot to open up a shortcut directly above his bed before he replied to your text. He sat crisscrossed, hoodie still over his head, and hunched over his phone. His blush was still firmly on his face and his eternal grin giddy.

 _*a name would be more than enough_

The moment he sent the message the skeleton tensed, his blush rapidly leaving and his grin falling as much as it could.

Was he being too forward?

Was he still being creepy? Creepier?

Before he could panic too much his phone dinged.

 _Unknown Number._

~[First Name] [Last Name]. I'm free all day Sunday, are you? ;)

Sans just about melted as he read her name before the last portion of the message registered.

….

Oh.

My.

Stars.

OH STARS!

Sans eyelights had disappeared the moment the text settled in his skull, his blush back and lighting up the darkened room more then his phone was capable of.

She had asked him out on a date.

It took all of his self control to not shout out his joy into his pillow as his SOUL just about purred. Briskly, Sans pulled himself together, closed his eyes, and went over his schedule this next Sunday.

Paps would be training with Undyne for the whole weekend, so that was taken care of, and he didn't actually have to go to work on Sundays. Up on the surface he didn't have to work multiple jobs like he did in the Underground, so he had more free time nowadays. Sans usually chose to work during the weekends just because he had nothing better to do, but now he had something to do that was miles better than working.

But where would he take her, take [Your Name]?

Sans eye's snapped open, the lights pinpricks, and a bead of sweat dripped down his skull.

Oh crap.

[Your Name]!

He left her hanging for…..

He looked at the time the message came in and the current time and groaned. He had spent almost ten minutes inside his head.

What if she got second thoughts? Changed her mind and decided that she didn't want to go on a date with him?

Hell, where was he even going to take her?! He didn't even know anything about her.

More sweat began to appear on his skull.

Okay, calm down Sans. What do you know about her? Well, she likes books, that's one thing. Books about monsterkind interested her and didn't disgust her. She didn't react negatively to him at all, hell, she treated him like he was just the average Joe on the street, so she was perfectly at ease with monsters.

What else did he know about his, sweet, kind, and lovely [Your Name]?

…..

That he already thought of her as his.

Sans groaned and threw himself backwards onto his bed. He stared at his ceiling and sighed.

This was bad, he had it bad.

Really.

Freaking.

Bad.

The skeleton closed his eyes, threw an arm over his face, and sighed again as forced himself back on track.

Okay, books and monsters. What else?

Kind and lovely. Don't think that counts, but okay.

Books and monsters.

Books. Monsters.

Monsters. Books….

Sans abruptly sat up with a, "that's it!" and proceed to, finally, text back that he would, indeed be picking her up around nine am.

[Your Name] was going to love this, he just knew it! His grin grew excited.

He could feel it in his bones.

It wasn't until later that night when Sans woke up with a start and realized that he never picked what he originally wanted from the bookstore.

* * *

Slow burn, what the fuck is a slow burn? I have never heard of such a thing, does it involve the sun?

Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!


End file.
